Vol. XXXVIII 



1920 



] Gehring, William Brewster: An Appreciation. 25 



Lover of birds and animals and flowers, — and equally lover of his 

 kind, — a rare and singularly beautiful soul was William Brewster, 

 and a priceless privilege it was to be permitted to count him as a 

 friend. A man wonderfully modest for one endowed with so great 

 a store of Nature's lore, and unusually shy and timid in the impart- 

 ing of the seemingly inexhaustible knowledge he so richly pos- 

 sessed. A man who won all hearts that came under the spell of 

 his voice and presence or upon whom his eyes rested with their 

 message of friendly understanding. "Who is your friend with the 

 kind eyes?" asked of me not infrequently by friends who saw us 

 together, was no unworthy tribute to this man who had the power 

 to make friends by virtue of some subtle innate quality that directly 

 appealed to those. fortunate enough to meet him. 



William Brewster did not need to commune with his friends in 

 words. His was the rare gift of intuitive communion, and to be in 

 his presence was to those who knew him best the privilege of inter- 

 preting a common thought by means of that rarer sense which is 

 far more subtle than anything the clumsy medium of words could 

 convey. What was this potent charm possessed in such marvelous 

 degree by this dead friend of ours? Why were we compelled to love 

 him, — what drew us to him with a feeling of tenderness akin the 

 love of woman, — why did we give our implicit trust as though it 

 were a matter beyond question that we should uncover our hearts 

 to this unassuming man? Was it not that William Brewster was 

 one of those men whose innate honesty and sincerity of soul spoke 

 for itself in every act, in every thought he uttered, — that his 

 relations with his fellow men were of the simplest and most direct, — 

 that he had no guile and no di strust, — but interpreted all others 

 by the light of his own transparent soul and heart and imputed to 

 others only that which was mirrored in his own nature? 



His was a character beautifully free from every taint of coarse- 

 ness. His heart and soul shone through eyes as pure as those of a 

 child. His conversation dealt with things that were beautiful and 

 his soul loved the beauty that is portrayed in Nature with a life-long 

 and all-embracing passion. To be in his companionship was to be 

 at once lifted away from all that had little worth and to dwell upon 

 the beauty and wonder of things that endure. Whoever of his 

 friends had the opportunity of seeing and hearing William Brewster 



